Expiation
by Fire-Playing Player
Summary: "Rin, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. It seems as though I no longer have the right to have you watch over me."


**__****I'm ****__****still looking after you..."**

_She was a fairly tall and fair-skinned woman dressed in a black turtle neck top and a purple mesh top underneath, black pants with bandages around her right thigh and calves, grey shin guards, black gloves that stretched to the top of her biceps and black shinobi boots._

_For a long moment, he simply stared at her, his gaze caressing her face as if surely he were stroking her with his fingers._

_"You're dead... How are you still alive?"_

_"Obito..."_

_"How are you feeling?"_

_"Free," she finally said._

_He reached for her hands for her hands, but stopped in mid-air. He dropped his arms at his sides, clenching his fists hard._

_Rin closed her eyes, savoring his image._

_"You're alive... how can you be alive.. Rin?"_

_Rin touched the center of her chest, where her heart was. She remembered the chidori bursting the red muscle in her chest cavity like a fleshy balloon. That's how she saw it at least. She hadn't died that day at all. She had missed her heart entirely because of her own error._

_She didn't remember much after-wards. She had seen infinite darkness and that was that. Then sometime after her supposed ' death ' she had met Tatsuya. He had taken care of her, reviving her through unknown means. She had gone through rehabilitation shortly so she could use her body again._

_Ever since, Tatsuya had fed her information from Konohagakure to their own place in the Hidden Mist. She had remained there for so long, never really leaving the place. Tatsuya had practically raised her, trained her, everything. He even so much as told her top secret information that he gave very definite details of._

_The nine-tails' attack on the village, the death of her sensei and his wife, the massacre of the Uchiha clan, the Akatsuki and the members in it, everything. It was as though she had never truly died._

_There were also the details of Kakashi provided to her from Tatsuya, to make it feel as though she were there with him in the village. She had wanted to see him so badly..._

_All the breath left Obito's body._

_He glanced again at his former teammate._

___Rin._

_It looked like her. But it didn't make sense how it could be her. He had watched her die, her body fell to the ground._

___So...she's Rin? She's really gorgeous... __thought Naruto._

_"You must be Uzumaki Naruto...it's so nice to meet you finally. You really do favor Minato-sensei."_

_Naruto scratched his cheek, laughing nervously. A faint blush tinged his cheeks. Rin faced Obito, her expression hard and serious. Obito faltered underneath those brown eyes._

_It was her. He remembered the laughter, the smiles the two of them had shared together. No. No fucking way. He wouldn't allow himself the small glimmer of hope that was battling its way through years of grief. This shit didn't happen in real life. People didn't get handed second chances on a damn platter._

_He'd prayed for a miracle more times than he cared to admit, but his prayers had gone unanswered. Or had they?_

_"You're losing it," he muttered._

_This woman who remarkably resembles Rin, albeit with no purple rectangles on her cheeks, was staring down at him._

_He rubbed his hands over his face and then over the back of his neck. Then he stared down at Rin. He wanted to believe it. He'd be just the sort of dumb ass who'd give this any credibility. But this wasn't genjtutsu, no one was that good. He remembered standing over her, pressing his fingers against her neck, pressing against slippery cold skin, where her heart should have been. Where her pulse should have been. She had been covered in blood._

___Rin was gone._

___Rin was dead._

___She wasn't coming home._

___Rin..._

…___._

…

_Her name floated insidiously through his mind._

_It looked like her. Made sense it could be her. He hadn't stayed behind long enough to see her body being shipped back. He was getting carried away. There had to be some other explanation. Someone was messing with him. He didn't know why. He didn't care. He curled his lips in disgust. This was probably all Kakashi's doing._

_Obito scanned her face, her beautiful face, gorgeous brown eyes, her hair which had grown so much longer and her body with definite curves. He hated the hope that sprung to life within him. His heart thumped like a jack hammer inside hie chest. His pulse raced so fast that he felt light-headed, almost like the night he came across her lifeless form._

_Was this what it felt like at the end of the road? Was all that was left was for him to start barking at the moon? The thought took him by the throat. It had teeth. It wouldn't let go._

_"Rin.."_

_Her eyes became wide, taking in his drastic appearance._

_"It is you... isn't it, Obito?"_

…

…

…

_Rin crumbled, her eyes filling with tears. Harsh, ragged sobs came deep from her chest and shook her entire body as they spilled from her lips._

_"It is you! Why... why, Obito? I thought you were dead all these years... you've become..."_

_"I haven't changed... Rin—I ..."_

_"Yes, you have... I don't..."_

_"No," she said in an even voice._

_He scowled. "You don't know what happened after your ' died ' Rin. A lot has changed. I have changed. "_

_"Obito..."_

_He clenched his teeth._

_"Rin..."_

_"You got rid of not just me, but the memories you had of your life... and the memories you had of us as Team Minato. You've hurt yourself... so much it's left you empty and now your views of the world... the way you want it... it's all nothing but a fantasy. Sometimes a fantasy can not fulfill a wish."_

_Obito stared at Rin. It had felt as though it had been a million years since he last saw her. He felt as though he was looking at her... ____really __looking at her._

_"I promised to stay by your side...so that if I din you wouldn't be able to keep anything from me. It seems as though I've broken that promise... if only I hadn't become the host of the Three-Tails...I'd probably still be alive...and you wouldn't have ended up like this, huh?"_

_Rin gripped the hand she'd healed so long ago, squeezing it so hard it made Obito wince. Yep, that was her all right. He'd recognized that monster strength anywhere even if she didn't use it all the time._

_"I remember...this."_

_She squeezed his hand again, harder than before._

_"Rin, you're killing me here."_

_"Good, then that means I'm doing my job."_

_"You're suppose to heal people, remember? Okay, this seriously hurts."_

_Rin laughed. "Boy, do I have a story to tell you and Kakashi...it's kind of ironic how I just came back from the dead and all."_

_Naruto got in between them, scrutinizing Rin's face. She blinked at him, smiling._

_"Are you sure you're not someone in disguise and trying to trick Obito are you?"_

_Rin giggled, then her fist came down unexpectedly on his head._

_"Hell, no! Why would I do that?!" Rin realized her sudden burst of anger and quickly apologized. "Sorry, sorry. I don't realize my own strength."_

___You certainly don't..._

_Naruto held his head, groaning. It reminded him of when his mom hit him for mistaking her as the nine-tails. Naruto turned to Obito._

_"Was she always like this?"_

_"Somewhat. The sudden lash of anger is new, but it's her alright."_

_"I'd check if I were you. I mean just because she's pretty face doesn't mean—hey!"_

_Rin struck a pressure point on his shoulder and his legs fell out from underneath him. A bit of cold sweat broke out on Obito's forehead._

_She extended a hand out towards Obito. "You don't have to be alone anymore...we're all waiting for you, me also. Stop putting up a front...I'll definitely be watching you from now on. I won't be going anywhere. It's a promise!"_

_Another hand joined hers. It was Naruto's._

_"What do you say...Obito?" _

"No!"

Rin grabbed Kakashi's arm, pulling it back with amazing strength. He and Obito stared at her, gaping.

"You're not going to kill him! I won't allow it!"

"Rin...you're..."

She swallowed. "Please..."

She looked down at Obito, seeing him laying there on the ground in defeat. She let of Kakashi's arm, then made her way over to Obito. She held his hand in hers.

"I guess...I didn't make much of an effort to watch over you, huh?" she whispered.

"Minato-sensei...Kakashi...what a horrible mess we've all been put in. And Obito... do you remember the missions we all went on together as Team Minato? The four of us. I was always the one taking care of you and you and Kakashi would get into it as usual. Those were the good days, weren't they? We weren't much smaller than Naruto is today now were we?"

She stared at Minato and Kakashi, closing her eyes for second then opening them again.

"I should be dead...you know? It's a coincidence that sensei is standing here with us. Maybe I allowed this to happen."

"I'm...sorry I wasn't able to protect you, Rin."

Rin glanced at Minato over her shoulder. She touched her sternum, feeling her heart beating.

"No...it is my fault."

The three man turned to her in confusion.

"I died by Kakashi's hands...it didn't go exactly as I had planned. I knew I'd died that day, yet somehow I woke up. I thought I had crossed over into the afterlife and that I would see Obito at last. But I wasn't dead and certainly not in the afterlife."

….

"The man who'd rescued me...reconstructed my heart with unknown DNA. My body didn't reject the heart transplant because he had tried it on sixty others before me. I had wanted to return to the village since I was no longer a jinchūriki... but he wouldn't allow it. Soon I found myself staying longer and longer with him. He trained me... soon, I found myself on my own with a new identity. I wanted to return to my home so bad, to see all of my friends...my family."

She clenched her fists. "I spied on Konohagakure for some time, mainly going there to see Kakashi. Once the nine-tails attacked the village and you, sensei, had died, I stayed away up until this point. I practically faked my own death."

"Who was the man who saved you?" asked Kakashi.

Rin's body shivered. Her eyes locked with Obito's. She let go of his hand, but she stayed near his side. At least she could do this in the very least since she could never return his feelings he'd had for her—and still had.

"His name was...I forgot, he didn't want me to reveal his name. I never got to thank him for saving my life."

"You were...the only light in my life." Obito said, shocking her, Minato, and Kakashi.

"Obito..."

"After losing you..the world I saw changed. It became a pitch black hell. I had no hopes for this world. I walked this world in Madara's stead. That only served to deepen my conviction. Even with this Sharingan, in the end, I wasn't able to see anything. There was nothing at all. "

"I see... then..."

She felt Kakashi's eye roam over her face, trying to imprint every detail into his memory.

"I thought this world was a hell, as well. I thought I had lost you...and I lost Rin soon after that...and then I even lost Minato-sensei as well... now Rin is alive and... I felt through this Sharingan I'd be able to see..."

"Obito, had you trusted your friends by your side, your hopes would have taken shape and perhaps you would have been able to see..." She leaned towards him until her nose was practically touching his.

"That's what I believe..."

The expression on her face made him turn as though he'd failed her in a way. Of course he had. He had done so much doing, so much wrong. He knew he'd have to pay for this someday but the bigger punishment was that Rin was here and looking at him. She was flesh and blood. She didn't like who had become at all. He felt her hand make for his again, squeezing it without breaking eye contact.

"I can see right through you...I always have been able to see past your facade."

"You had a knack for that, Rin." She almost caressed the side of his scarred face when his body began to spasm and he coughed violently.

"Obito!"

"With the tailed beasts extracted from his body, it's only a matter of time before Obito..."

"No, don't say something like that!" Rin cried. "He's going to be fine. You're going to be fine, Obito." Her voice shook.

Kakashi clasped a hand gently on her shoulder. "Rin..."

"He's going to be fine..." she bit out, chewing on her bottom lip. Maybe she was wrong. All of the beasts pulled from his body had done a susceptible damage to him. Maybe he would die, but she couldn't think that. She liked to think that Team Minato had been reunited finally after all these years. All of the years of waiting. Her sensei's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Kakashi, Rin... no need to worry. I've just been given some positive reassurances by the kyuubi."

"Thank goodness..." Rin beamed, clasping Obito's hand. She worried over his wavering, wheezing breathing. Then Obito wiggled his hand free.

"Rin...I'm sorry...please forgive me for everything I've done."

"I already have. It'll suffice...but I have."

He clasped his hands. Rin and Minato puzzled. "What are you doing?" they both asked in unison.

He began to breathe heavier this time. "I had hoped to use...what than man used in order to betray me..."

It finally sank in. "You don't mean...Obito..."

"Not in my wildest dreams...did I ever think I'd walk the same path as he did."

"Obito, please..."

"Samara of Heavenly Life Technique."

"You'll die if you use that!" she yelled.

He faced Rin. "I finally understand...when the feelings and emotions of a group of people become unified..it really does become a powerful device. Seeing as how both Nagato and Naruto were Jiraiya's disciples...it'd be fair to say Jiraiya defeated me."

_It can't end like this...not again... _

"Sensei...he was also your mentor...and the one..who trained you...to become Hokage. Since I. Who was your disciple gave up on...becoming Hokage...and failed to resonate my feelings and emotions with my comrades...I no have the right to be watched over by Rin. Since she is alive...I have no right to be in the afterlife..."

Rin bowed her head.

"And you're okay with his? Continue living and pay penance for the sins you've committed," said Kakashi.

"No...that would be taking the easy way out... Rin...I wish to tell you something. Lend me your ear."

She nodded. She lowered her ear to his mouth, pushing s strand of brown hair away and tucking it away. She quickly withdrew. "Obito...I...I..." she closed a hand over her throat. She forced a smile, even when the tears started falling from her face.

"I'm sorry..." she croaked.


End file.
